Kathy Macdonald, President of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society Photo by Andy Caulfield

Dear Friends,

The Gardens at Elm Bank are alive with color and visitors as people enjoy the beauty of spring. Our hardworking garden keepers, volunteers, and staff are filling the gardens beds with flowers or vegetables and grooming Mass Hort's grounds as we get ready for summer. We look forward to your visit to Elm Bank for an event (Antique and Auto shows this month) or just the enjoyment of walking around to see what's up in the gardens.

Our newly formed Elm Bank Committee recommended that the Italianate Garden become more "Italianate-like" and we have begun to make subtle changes to restore its classic form. The long rectangular beds are now lined with sod. Three Hick's Yews march down the center of each bed, thanks to a generous memorial living tribute gift. Volunteers and staff are planting over 7,000 flowers in the beds that our garden curator, David Fiske, started in our green house. As I have previously mentioned, the fountain was removed in April for restoration. Paul Miskovsky of Miskovsky Landcaping graciously lent us a fountain to take its place―and it looks great! Our brides and grooms will be especially pleased!

Linx Camp's children have starting arriving for their summer of fun. We are thrilled to be working on a gardening program with Linx this year. As we plan for August's Mass Marketplace, the scarecrow contest will be back ― and we hope area children as well as the camp kids will participate!

The newly branded Gardeners' Fair was a great success with White Flower Farm, the Plant Societies, and many new and old garden vendors. An absolutely perfect spring day brought many plant shoppers to the fair. The Wellesley Farmers' Market is in full operation every Thursday at the Whole Foods Market in Wellesley, from 2 to 3 pm. Stop by and supports your local farmers.

I hope to see you in the gardens.

Warm regards,

Kathy

With the season's first mini heat wave over Memorial Day Weekend, all the spring crops - lettuce, radishes, peas, kale, etc. - in the Garden-to-Table beds are up and thriving, and lettuce and radishes are ready for the first harvest next week, to be donated to the food pantry. Many hot weather crops are in the ground, most of them transplants, but some direct-seeded.

Intern Genevieve Slocum waters the Garden to Table beds.

The Garden-to-Table program, now in its second year, showcases some of the best ways to grow vegetables on a small scale - raised beds, efficient use of small spaces and pots, sound rotations and companion cropping - as well as the best uses to make of the finished product. Beds are organized by theme, including the Too Pretty to Eat bed, ethnic beds, the pickling bed, and the Pizza Garden, boasting everything you need to top a pizza. Not only can visitors stroll along the beds to get ideas and inspiration for their home gardens, they can attend several events that celebrate fresh cuisine.

The program is expected to grow considerably this year. While we still plan to match last year's donation of almost a ton of vegetables to local food pantries, we also want to grow the programs that show the home cook how to prepare healthy and creative meals from their own garden.

This year, we are planning an exciting calendar, which will include a series of tastings, featuring creative menus from Peppers Catering, Healthy Habit Kitchens, Blue Ginger and several others. We have a craft Brew tasting planned as well as several relevant lectures to interest both the cook and the gardener. There are also several events in the works, including a sundried tomato workshop and a jam workshop with master jam-maker Bonnie Shershow, whose dates have not yet been confirmed, so please keep checking back for updates to the schedule!

Please join us this season for a cooking demonstration, a lecture or perhaps a garden tour all set in our magnificent garden setting, and learn how you can create nourishing and delicious meals from your own garden. We hope to show you that one of the greatest joys of growing your own food is eating it!

Hicks yews and a new, though temporary, fountain are part of the Italianate Garden restoration.

Elm Bank's Italianate Garden is a rare treat for garden aficionados. Designed by the Olmsted Brothers between 1914 and 1928, it is one of just two Italianate gardens open to the public in Massachusetts. It faithfully follows the grand principals of such gardens - a flat ground plane, paths on geometric axes, a simple water feature, and a walled enclosure, in this case a magnificent hedge of copper beech, creating a green "room".

Most classic Italianate gardens also follow another custom: they're principally green spaces. Flowers, if any, are found in splashes via urns and other containers. That doesn't square with 21^st Century sensibilities in which 'garden' equates with color.

The Massachusetts Horticultural Society's Elm Bank Committee, comprised of Board members and friends, has spent a lot of time over the past year thinking about how to keep the Italianate Garden true to its principals (Elm Bank is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Italianate Garden is one of the contributing elements to that designation) while also making it a 'wow' stopping point for Elm Bank visitors and an in-demand venue for weddings and parties.

The Committee has been undertaking an intensive review of all of the Gardens with an eye towards excellence in stewardship. Phased work started in the Italianate Garden thanks to a foundation grant to temporarily remove and to restore the marble font that serves as the centerpiece of the pool. That work is being carried out by Daedalus Inc. of Watertown, MA. In its place is a temporary fountain, no less dramatic, that is on loan from Trustee Paul Miskovsky. In late May, twelve Hicks yews, plants specified in the original Olmsted Brothers design, were placed in the Garden; a memorial gift in honor of a friend of Elm Bank.

The balance of the transformation this season is subtle. In keeping with the Italianate tradition of 'planar' gardens (everything is on level ground), and with design advice from Pressley Associates, landscape architects, beds that had become mounded over time have been flattened. The visual change is surprising .To improve the 'green' ratio, a 22-inch sod border has been added to the four wide beds that flank the Garden's principal walkway.

The work done earlier this season by Bartlett Tree Experts to shape and improve the copper beech border that creates the large garden room now shows the garden to its fullest effect. And planning work is progressing on a project for the fall; the relocation of several conifers that are now randomly located in the Garden to the end by the Goddesses Garden. This will complete the enclosure of the Garden adding to its serenity and sense of "place". And additional funding is being sought to do a renovation of the pool edge and the water piping system.

And as to flowers?

Staff and volunteers have labored to install a full complement of bedding plants in the garden this year. It will be beautiful. The Committee feels certain that Percival Gallagher, the designer at the Olmsted Brothers firm, would approve and so will our many visitors and brides.

The Gardens at Elm Bank truly are at their peak in June. This year, they’re looking especially glorious. We hope you’ll plan a morning, an afternoon or an early evening to come and appreciate just how special a New England garden can be. Here’s a sampling of the gardens.

All photos were taken on June 1.

The Bressingham Garden beckons.

Devils ninebark in bloom in the Bressingham Garden.

Weezies Garden is ideal for children.

Intern Chelcie Martin creates a child-friendly herb garden in a corner of Weezies.

The Big Red Chair awaits its first visitors.

The pot sculptures at the Crockett Garden.

The new Hicks yews in the Italianate Garden.

Every Thursday evening through November, The Massachusetts Horticultural Society offers insightful, informative and interesting talks and workshops on a wide range of gardening topics, each by an authoritative professional who is also a great communicator. This month, you can learn the basics of rose gardening, find out how to create great container gardens, and delve into the joys of compost.

Presentations begin at 7 p.m. and go until all questions are answered. The classes are priced at $12 for members and $15 for non-members. There is no need to pre-register.

Here’s the lineup for the June. There is no presentation on July 4.

The Basics of Rose Growing

June 7 - Irwin Ehrenreich - The Rose Man Nursery
We don’t usually think of New England as a great rose growing region, but there’s no reason why you can’t have a picture-perfect rose garden. All it takes is the right choices and the proper care. Irwin Ehrenreich, owner of The Rose Man, a rose care service on Cape Cod, will take you through the year in the rose garden from spring pruning to winter protection. His talk is illustrated with a gallery of some of Irwin's rose gardens.

Irwin is an American Rose Society Consulting Rosarian, Yankee District coordinator for Roses in Review, past president of The Seaside Rosarians, and Lower Cape Rose Society, as well as a Master Gardener.

Creating Glorious Summer Container Gardens

June 14 - - BettyOnGardening.com
Looking to spice up your deck, porch, driveway or front stoop? Do you have limited space but a desire to see an abundance of flowers? Whether it's filled with annuals, perennials, vegetables or tropicals, container gardens give you the versatility and freedom to do it all; and June is the perfect month to create them. You will learn techniques for exciting and successful containers from the bottom up as Betty Sanders assembles five containers during this lecture and demonstration. The containers will be auctioned off at the end of the demonstration.

Betty is well-known to Leaflet readers as the author of the newsletter’s Horticultural Hints column. She is also a frequent lecturer on gardening topics around the region to clubs and civic organizations.

Composting

June 21 - Ann McGovern - Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
You can improve your soil while getting rid of nearly half of your household garbage by composting. Compost is the basis for healthy soil. Healthy soil grows healthy lawns and gardens without the need for pesticides or chemical fertilizers. You can have a beautiful yard without using chemicals that can harm children, pets and the environment. Learn how to turn coffee grounds, tea bags, fruit and vegetable scraps, egg shells, yard waste and even paper towels into black gold that will transform your soil into rich, fertile earth. This workshop covers easy composting methods, different types of bins, indoor worm composting for apartment-dwellers, and how compost can eliminate the need for chemical fertilizers and pesticides in your yard and garden.

Ann is the Consumer Waste Reduction Coordinator and composting outreach specialist for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. She teaches composting basics around the state.

There is no lecture on June 28 or July 4.

As a tribute to the glorious rose-filled days of June, the group will discuss Katherine Mansfield's short story, "The Garden Party", in which the character of the gardener observes that "you could not help feeling ... that roses are the only flowers that impress people at garden parties". The selection of this, the author's most famous story, is a follow-up to our April selection, at which Mansfield's cousin, Elizabeth von Arnim was chosen as the subject of the discussion. Her book, the Enchanted April, is notable for its portraits of women who are saved from the discontent of their lives by the healing power of nature.

In "The Garden Party" one may look for clues that show that an idyllic setting cannot always mask the darker sides of life. Participants should consider reading other stories by Katherine Mansfield, also. Everyone is welcome to joint the group at any time, and no pre-registration is required.

A Tour of Near-North Gardens

Mass Hort staff members, April Daley and Maureen Horn, are hosting a bus trip on Saturday, July 21, to South Berwick, Maine, where travelers will receive private group tours of two properties owned by Historic New England. The first is the 1785 Georgian mansion, Hamilton House, a National Historic Landmark, built on a bluff overlooking the Salmon Falls River and surrounded by classic gardens

The featured visit is to the Sarah Orne Jewett House, first owned by her family in 1819, on a festive day when the public is being invited especially into its herb gardens.

Nancy Wetzel, the House's Landscape historian, will speak to the group from Mass Hort on the historic importance of herbs and of community herbalists, as seen through the lens of The Country of the Pointed Firs and Mrs. Todd, the novel's herb practitioner. Afterwards, she will guide us through the garden to provide a sensory experience of the herbs described by Jewett.

Between house visits, we will stop in Kittery, Maine so that travelers can choose a place to enjoy lunch from a large array of restaurants. 

Those interested in either the book group or joining the tour should contact the librarian, Maureen Horn, at 617-933-4912 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The Wellesley Farmers’ Market, located in the Washington Street Whole Foods parking lot, is now in its second month and buzzing with activity, as walkers and joggers pass through en route to the Brook Path and customers stop to seek out fresh produce as they run errands.

Phyllis Theerman of the Wellesley Farmers’ Market steering committee observed, “The market is alive with shoppers buying ultra-fresh, local, pesticide-free produce, cage free eggs, stunning lilies, herbs, award-winning farmstead cheeses, artisan breads and much more. The sounds of recipes and farming anecdotes being shared are as abundant as the smiles and good feel.” Whole Foods traffic draws many shoppers who may be unaware of the fledgling market to check it out on their way to and from their cars, and get some ingredients on their list straight from the farmer, picked that morning. As the market becomes more established, many vendors hope for even more foot traffic and a growing loyal customer base that returns every Thursday afternoon, specifically to visit the market. Many of the farmers and customers remain optimistic about this, particularly as customer traffic picks up week after week, and vendors continue to have more quantity and variety to offer.

Shirley Quinn, a Wellesley resident and faithful weekly customer who has always made an effort to shop locally and in season, said, “I love it. I come every time it’s open. I buy lilies each time, and the eggs are marvelous. I have been hoping we would get a market for a long time.”

The vendors are as diverse and enthusiastic as their customers. Bryan Austin of Dover Farms in Dover, MA and Megan Glennon of Of The Earth farm in Groton, MA came with garlic scapes, kale, scallions, kohlrabi, some radishes, and other remnants of the cool season crops on this last Thursday of May. “In about three weeks, everything will be in,” said Austin. The first of the strawberry crop was just arriving, meanwhile, for Sunshine Farm and Warner Farm, and customers could not believe the difference between these fresh-picked berries and their usual supermarket fare. Stow Greenhouse in Stow, MA, known for their long-lasting, fragrant lilies and eco-friendly growing techniques, arrived with the beautiful blooms in many colors.

Copicut Farms, in Dartmouth, MA, specializes in pasture-fed chicken, turkey, and eggs. They even brought a slideshow of their fields and happy birds, which also provided a glimpse of their complex chicken-tractor/hoophouse system that allows them to move the chickens easily to fresh pasture. The humane treatment and healthy environment they have “translates into the product you get.”

Megan Glennon’s spread of attractive spring produce has sold out every week so far. This is her first growing season, which she says is both exciting and scary, but she finds doing a brisk business in Wellesley encouraging.

Bryan Austin said he likes the atmosphere, especially the “really nice people. And it’s getting better every week, which coincides with people bringing new things.”

The Wellesley Farmers Market is a program of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, located in the historic Elm Bank Reservation. The market is open May through October, every Thursday from 2-6pm at the Whole Foods Market location. Check out www.masshort.org for more information.

Ordinarily, when you come to Elm Bank on a summer weekend, you expect the unexpected: a bride and groom posing for photos in the Italianate Garden, a bar mitzvah celebration in the Hunnewell Carriage House, or a children's group on a quest to find and photograph a certain flower or insect.

But this weekend, you'll find something both completely different and very tempting: the seventh annual Antiques at Elm Bank event. It's a two-day fair that brings together dealers and buyers, all set amid the grounds (but not in the gardens) of Elm Bank. Antiques are displayed in outdoor tents with a select number of dealers showcased inside the Hunnewell and Education buildings.

Thus far, 125 dealers have registered and will be on hand featuring thousands of items from the 18^th to the mid 20^th Century. There will be Federalist and Victorian furniture, European and Asian ceramics, china, sterling silver, art, estate jewelry, antique toys and much more. Everyone from the casual collector to the experienced investor will be able to find that precious treasure they have been searching for.

Exhibitors, invited for the quality of their offerings, come from all over the country. The event has grown in stature since its inception and is now considered one of the country's premier outdoor summer antiques shows. This year, there will be exhibitors offering Native American art and baskets, fine 19th and 20th century oil paintings, sewing items, quilts and linens, British enamelware, antique walking sticks, historic flasks, American Coin silver, antique lighting, European porcelain and Bohemian glass, silver heirlooms, Japanese art, period frames and mirrors, New England country and formal furniture, antique cupboards, brass bells, clocks, and 18th and 19th century vanity and desk accessories and other unique home furnishings.

Special event to raise money for the Mass Hort Library

Perhaps you have an antique you'd like to have appraised. Nationally known expert Paul Royka will be on hand Saturday from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. and Sunday between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Appraisals are $5 (with a limit of two items) and proceeds benefit the Mass Hort library.

Special Mass Hort Members Only Plant Sale during event

During the Antiques Show this weekend visitors to Elm Bank will also be able to buy plants at a Members Only sale.

Not only will you be able to buy beautiful antiques, on Saturday there will be a special plant sale at the greenhouse near the Putnam Building.  David Fiske, our gardens curator, has selected many different varieties to choose from, so be sure to stop buy and pick up some for your garden.

Admission to Antiques at Elm Bank is $10 on Saturday (including free re-admission) and $8 on Sunday. Children 12 and under receive free entry. Hours are Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

For more information call (781) 862-4039 or visit www.NEAntiqueShows.com.

The Gardeners' Fair of May 20^th landed on a warm, cloudless Sunday, and crowds of zealous gardeners swamped vendors by 9 am. Families turned out, the kids excited by the warm weather, the festive atmosphere, and the Weezies Children's Garden with its colorful flower-lined paths and enticing slew of activities. Veteran gardeners came in droves to seek out rare varieties of perennials, shrubs, vegetables and herbs. Master gardeners staffing the Massachusetts Horticultural Society plant sale kept busy fielding complex questions about each variety. Customers were drawn in by attractively mixed pots of annuals. Most shoppers found like-minded vendors and customers with whom to discuss their specific interests and exchange knowledge.

White Flower Farm sold over 80 varieties of tomatoes, from hybrids to rare heirlooms. The plant societies that have made the Gardeners' Fair famous over the years for their obscure plant varieties and specialized knowledge to match sold many plants that gardeners might otherwise have trouble finding. Aside from the vast array of plants, gardeners had many wares to choose from, including gardening accessories from Foxgloves, botanical prints from Lynne Puhalla Studios, garden ornaments from several vendors, and wildlife defenses from Deer Defeat.

The Mass Hort gardens, many of them just starting to bloom, drew in attendees and helped complete their experience of the lovely spring day.

by Vivien Bouffard

Penni Jenkins at a Master Gardener topiary trimming seminar in March.

European Gardens: History, Philosophy and Design
by Tom Turner
(Routledge, London and New York, 2011)

Reviewed by Patrice Todisco

In this richly illustrated book, landscape architect and garden historian, Tom Turner ambitiously traces the evolution of European gardens throughout a 12,000 year period. More than 400 pages in length, European Gardens: History, Philosophy and Design provides a comprehensive introduction to the social, political and artistic ideas that nurtured this unique art form.

Following a design philosophy overview, the book is divided into nine chapters beginning with garden origins and cultivation (10,000 - 1,000 BCE) and concluding with current design trends and abstract and post abstract gardens (1900 - 2000). Although centered on the European tradition, the evolution of gardens in the Fertile Crescent and twentieth century gardens and landscapes in North and South America are described.

Each chapter contains a historic assessment, followed by an analysis of garden plans depicted as style diagrams. References to gardens by notable figures, such as Pliny, are included as well as quotes from contemporary garden and landscape designers. Attention is directed to individual gardens and the context in which they were built, including settlement patterns, urban design principles and regional planning.

Turner has perfected a graphic system that portrays the six key elements of a garden; landform, water, vertical structures, horizontal structures, vegetation and climate, in a clear and consistent format. The style diagrams are used liberally throughout the book and are beautiful in their simplicity. These style diagrams, combines with text and photographs, provide a synopsis of individual gardens that is quickly understood by the reader. The clarity and consistency of the visual information makes it easy to remember, adding value as a reference guide.

The Tuileries in 2012

by Betty Sanders
Lifetime Master Gardener

Too soon! The peonies in many areas have already passed, irises that should bloom through June are nearly finished and the weeds are more rambunctious than ever. The early heat - remember 80 degrees in March? - changed the timetable for spring and early summer flowering. With any luck, your later-blooming plants will not have been affected, and June will be more like June than July.

In the vegetable garden. If you started your vegetable garden with lettuce, spinach, beets and peas in April or early May, you should be harvesting those now. These cool weather crops can suffer once the heat of summer kicks in. You can extend their season - and your enjoyment of these vegetables - by replanting every two or three weeks, watering deeply when you water and using row covers to shade the crop. These steps will allow you to enjoy at least the lettuce through the summer months. You can replants spinach and peas in late summer for a fall harvest.

Carrots, green beans and corn will also provide a continuous harvest if you replant when the first crop is up but not yet producing. Remember when planting corn that it is a wind-pollinated plant. You need to think in terms of 'squares' rather than rows. The smallest square that will give you a respectable yield is roughly five rows by five rows. Replant at 15 -day intervals or select varieties that produce at different intervals - 65 days, 80 days, etc.

By now, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant sets should all be planted. It's also time to put in seeds for summer and winter squash, cucumbers and melons. These plants all require soil temperatures of at least 75 degrees. This past weekend's chilly temperatures belie the fact that your soil has been warming nicely since mid-May.

Quarts of fresh strawberries.

Berry season. Local strawberries should be available soon, chasing the decidedly less tasty Florida and California imports into hiding. If you don't grow your own, find a farmer's market or Pick-Your-Own farm and remember why strawberries are so special. If you have chipmunk or rabbits tasting your home grown berries before you get to them, try spraying predator urine or sprinkling cayenne pepper on the leaves. You can also surround the plants with netting or wire mesh to deter the thieves.

If you grow blueberries or raspberries, you know that you are in for a fight with the birds over who gets the crop. A wire cage placed over the plants, accessible only by a door, is necessary to protect blueberries from all its avian and four-legged fans. Raspberries can usually be saved for the grower with bird netting that drapes down over the bush nearly to the ground.

The New England drought: abating but not gone. The weekend rains helped, but as the attached map shows that we're still not in good shape in New England. While eastern Massachusetts is now considered 'only' abnormally dry (with drought conditions in central Massachusetts), a few weeks without rain can change things dramatically. If you've been practicing water conservation this spring, continue to do so. If you haven't. now is the time to begin. Many towns have imposed watering bans because the water tables from which town wells draw daily water are well below normal.

Lawn care. No more fertilizing the lawn until fall! Fertilizer promotes vigorous top-growth at a time when the rainfall will be decreasing and when the increasing heat is telling the grass to slow down. Forcing blade growth now puts the lawn under stress, making it more susceptible to disease and insect damage throughout the summer.

Keep planting annuals. While some stores have been selling summer annuals for weeks (or even months) now is the time to look for fresh-from-the-grower, healthy plants for your yard and containers. Most of our summer annuals are tropical plants that do not appreciate any cool weather. Waiting until now means the plants can begin growing immediately because the conditions are right. Add a timed release fertilizer when planting, or water weekly with a dilute solution of liquid plant fertilizer, especially for those in containers.

Use annuals to fill in places in perennial beds where plants have been lost or just to try a new look. In addition to flowers, consider grasses and foliage plants like elephant ear or caladium for a different look.

The best way to get rid of crabgrass in your lawn is to pull it.

Don't grow weeds. Of course no one sets out to grow weeds, but we create the perfect environment for them to thrive. What's a gardener to do? We don't want to poison our soil with herbicides and weeds won't die of drought or starvation because they are adept at stealing water and nutrients from our other plants. Moreover, weeds never have as many insect enemies as the plants we want to grow.

The best solution - indeed, the only solution, is to pull, hoe and mulch. In the vegetable garden or the flower garden, remove the weeds by the best method at your disposal without disturbing the plants you want. Between rows, use a scuffle hoe. Between plants pull individual weeds and cover all open ground with mulch. Cover the soil around hot weather crops such as tomatoes, melons, squash and cucumbers, with plastic. Use cardboard or newspapers in the rows between vegetables or around individual plants use heat-treated straw or grass clipping--only from untreated lawns! Clippings from treated lawns usually include herbicides such as 'weed & feed' which can kill your vegetables.

In your ornamental beds, you need to practice regular hand weeding. Go after them now and there will be many fewer in the summer. Use wood or bark mulch, shredded leaves or compost around flowers, trees and shrubs. Mulch two inches thick will stop the germination of weed seeds. Thicker mulch is not better; four inches or more will soak up water before it reaches the roots. Never place the mulch against the stem of the plant. It will hold moisture there and provide an entry site for insects and disease.

You can explore more of Betty Sanders’ gardening thoughts at www.BettyonGardening.com.

by Neal Sanders
Leaflet Contributor

Allow me to be brutally frank for a moment. In late May, my wife and I bought a new auto. It is a wonderful car as 2012 vehicles go. After several hundred miles of driving the highways and byways of eastern Massachusetts, it is averaging an astonishing 56.7 miles per gallon which is twice the around-town mileage of the car it replaced. I am slowing learning how to work the new auto's various electronic gizmos though, once something is set, I don't dare change it.

But here is the honest part: aside from that phenomenal gas mileage, this car excites me in the same way that, say, a new laptop computer or printer excites me. Which is to say that the vehicle is a useful piece of utilitarian machinery that I hope will serve me well.

Which in turn is why, on Sunday, June 24, you will find me at the Elm Bank Auto Show. The cars that I lusted after as a teenager will be there. The cars that I kick myself for never having purchased as an adult will be there. The cars that defined America's love affair with the internal combustion engine will be there. And I can ogle them, talk to their owners, and even touch them if I am careful.

My 1956 Chevy Bel-Air - The master cylinder leaked live a sieve.

My first car was a then ten-year-old 1955 Pontiac Chieftain, a Sherman tank that nevertheless got me on the road with my newly minted driver's license. It was replaced by a 1956 Chevy Bel-Air with rust spots, a leaky master cylinder and a propensity to burn a quart of oil with every tank of gas. I loved both of those cars though I would have preferred a shiny new 1966 Mustang convertible. But $300 - which I had - bought the ten-year-old Chevy whereas the Mustang was $2,700 - which I didn't have. I would have sold my soul for a candy apple red 1967 Corvette, but my soul wouldn't have fetched anything close to the necessary $4,240. And, even if the devil had been especially generous that day, I would have had trouble keeping a car that got eight miles per gallon of 'premium' gasoline on the road (even at 37.9¢ per gallon).

The car of my dreams a 1967 Corvette in candy apple red.

By the time I was able to afford new cars, they had become either boxy, lookalike 'sensible' vehicles or else poorly designed, bloated, gas-guzzling shadows of their namesake forbearers. I somehow doubt that either the 1976 Dodge Aspen or the same year's Corvette has become a collector's item.

Only once in the intervening years did I ever get to own a car that was a head-turner. It was a LeMans blue 1995 Saab convertible with a Regatta blue top. I didn't choose it, of course; my wife did. She kept it for ten years and 105,000 miles before it developed terminal electrical trouble. She still regrets the day it was traded in for its 'sensible' successor. I confess that I, too, mourn its passing.

At the car show, I will also spend time with the cars of my parents' and grandparents' era. I was born too late to lust after a 1937 Packard Touring Sedan, but I can appreciate fine design when I see it. Those were sturdy vehicles that were built for primitive roads. That they are still around 75 years later is a testament not just to reverence for timeless visual appeal, but for superb workmanship as well.

For one day, at least, I'll stop obsessing over how to squeeze an extra tenth of a mile per gallon out my hybrid. On June 24, I'll take a drive down memory lane, and visit the Antique Auto Show at the Gardens at Elm Bank and to a time when cars were built to appeal to our emotions.

Neal Sanders is a frequent contributor to the Leaflet. Neal's newest mystery, A Murder in the Garden Club, was published in March and you can learn more about it here . That book, plus his three other mysteries, can be ordered through Amazon.com .